The present invention relates generally to a computer interface and more particularly to a mouse having force feedback.
In the known computer interface, movement of a computer mouse in an X- and/or Y-direction on a table moves a cursor or other graphical element on a computer display in a corresponding direction. As is well known, the user operates numerous functions on a graphical user interface, such as pull down menus, activating icons, scrolling windows, etc. by moving the mouse and selectively activating a button on the mouse. The known computer mouse does not provide tactile or force feedback relating to the interaction between the cursor and computer generated objects on the screen, i.e. the user cannot "feel" the objects displayed on the screen.
As a result, many people have difficulty operating a computer mouse. For example, many people have difficulty "double clicking" on a computer icon because they inadvertently move the mouse while clicking twice, thereby dragging, rather than double clicking, the icon. The known computer mouse is particularly difficult to operate for the visually impaired or those with poor motor skills, poor hand-eye coordination or those with muscular or nervous disorders.
One proposed computer input device offers force feedback relating to the cursor interaction with objects on the computer screen. That device utilizes electromagnetic flat coil actuators to generate electromagnetic forces on a handle. However, the electromagnetic flat coil actuators utilized in this computer input device are expensive and generate strong magnetic fields which interfere with the operation of the computer or which could damage computer disks. This computer input device requires an additional computer dedicated solely to controlling the input device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,016 discloses a hand controller having force feedback for teleoperation of a tool for surgery. The forces encountered by the tool are translated by a computer to torque motors, thereby providing a real time interactive feedback response enabling a surgeon to "feel" an operation. The position and orientation of the controller are determined by the lengths of twelve lines between the controller and the support structure. The twelve control lines are interconnected with the plurality of torque motors which are variably programmed by the computer to apply tension to each of the lines based upon the force encountered by the tool. This device is large and requires a large number of control lines and motors. The numerous control lines and motors complicate programming of software applications which could utilize the input device. Play in the numerous control lines and friction reduce the precision of the response and feedback of the device. The patent does not disclose force feedback based upon the interaction between a cursor and objects on a computer screen or force feedback based upon the movement of the input device.